Published 7:10 pm, Saturday, August 13, 2011

The two sides are close to finalizing an agreement to meet Sept. 10 in Mexico, sources say.

“From what I hear, it sounds like the fight is going to happen,” Martinez said. “I've been preparing as if it is, training hard and sparring twice a week.”

Martinez (28-1, 16 KOs), the IBF's No. 1 contender, was scheduled to face Mijares (42-6-2, 18 KOs) on May 14 in Durango, Mexico. But a cut on the bridge of his nose incurred during sparring forced Martinez to withdraw from the fight.

If a deal is completed, it would be Martinez's second attempt at a world championship. The first came in April 2009 when he lost by TKO to Nonito Donaire in the Philippines.

The location for the bout has not been set, but the leading candidate appears to be Zacatecas.

A purse bid is scheduled to take place Thursday. It was supposed to have taken place last week but was postponed.

The two sides had until July 29 to complete an agreement. When that deadline came and went, the IBF called for a purse bid.

In boxing, whenever there is a title eliminator, a mandatory title defense or a fight for a vacant title, if no deal can be reached on a split of the purse, the sanctioning body in charge of the bout can call for a purse bid.

In this case, that means all IBF-registered promoters have until Thursday to submit proposals on promoting the fight.

If the fight goes to a purse bid, the champion typically receives 75 percent of the purse and the challenger 25 percent.

Lindsey Tucker, the IBF's championships chairman, said the purse bid was pushed back a week after Tijuana-based Zanfer Promotions, Mijares' promoter, told the IBF it needed more time to finalize a deal with its fighter.

The winning bidder will have 90 days to stage the fight, Tucker said.

Martinez's manager, Lou Mesorana, said his fighter has agreed to the fight. But Mesorana expressed concern this past week over the delays involved with putting the fight together.

“What does it all mean?” Mesorana said. “I think we're going to hold off on signing a contract until we know what's going on.”

S.A. card in works:﻿﻿ A TV boxing card is coming to San Antonio on Oct. 1 outdoors at La Villita.

Local fighter Golden Johnson (25-8-3, 18 KOs) is scheduled to end a four-year layoff by taking on Hector Camacho Jr. (53-4-1, 28 KOs) in a 10-round light middleweight main event.

A third fight between San Antonio bantamweight Joseph Rios (10-5-2, 4 KOs) and Dallas' Luis Yanez (4-0-1) also is in the works.